Carolina Financial has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Carolina Trust BancShares, the parent company of Carolina Trust Bank, in a cash-and-stock transaction valuing $100.1m.
Under the terms of the agreement, Carolina Trust shareholders will receive 0.3000 shares of Carolina Financial or $10.57 in cash for each Carolina Trust share.
The aggregate consideration will be paid in a combination of 90% Carolina Financial stock and 10% cash.
Once the transaction is complete, the combined bank will have around $4.5bn in assets.
Additionally, Carolina Trust’s current chairman of the board Johnathan Rhyne will join Carolina Financial and CresCom Bank boards of directors.
Headquartered in North Carolina, Carolina Trust has 11 banking locations and a loan production office.

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By GlobalDataAs of 31 March 2019, the lender managed assets of $621m, gross loans of $474m and deposits of $523m.
Carolina Financial CEO Jerry Rexroad said: “This transaction allows for Carolina Financial to deepen its market presence in North Carolina.
“Carolina Trust represents the best opportunity for Carolina Financial to expand our footprint in these markets and the merger will allow us to execute on many of our publicly stated goals.
“We welcome the Team Members at Carolina Trust to our organization. This partnership is an excellent opportunity to create value for both institutions.”
Subject to shareholders and regulatory approvals, the Carolina Trust acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020.